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1. What is a revaluation?

A Revaluation is the process of performing all of the necessary Market Analysis and Valuation steps to determine accurate and equitable values for all properties within a municipality. The equalization of the values within a City or Town creates a fair distribution of the tax burden. The purpose of a Revaluation is not to raise taxes. The purpose is to create an equitable distribution of the tax load.

For more information, please call 860-665-8530.

2. What happens during a revaluation?

If the project requires it, a physical inspection of both the interior and exterior of each property is conducted. Since data on all properties is maintained by the assessor's office, this step is not necessarily required for valuation or statistical updates although inspections of sale properties or a certain percentage of houses may be conducted as a part of the project. While data collection is being conducted, appraisers are studying the recent market sales in order to gain a full understanding of the real estate market in your City or Town. This study of recent property sales allows the appraisers to establish parameters to estimate the value of property that has not been sold using comparisons with recent sales. The appraisers then gather and review these parameters and apply them to all non-sale properties in order to approximate the market value of each property that they are charged with appraising.

For more information, please call 860-665-8530.

3. Why did my land value change differently than my building value?

Since the last revaluation, real estate values have changed significantly. Over the same period, building construction costs have increased at a slower rate than property values have appreciated. Since building costs have not increased as much as total values, the bulk of the total increase, if any, is attributable to land. This makes perfect economic sense, as it is land that is limited supply.

For more information, please call 860-665-8530.

4. Will a revaluation increase taxes?

A revaluation may result in an increase or decrease of individual assessments depending on how a property value increased or decreased relative to the average change in assessment. It does not mean that all property taxes will increase or decrease. Remember assessments are only the base that is used to determine the tax burden. The tax burden is the amount that the municipality must raise to operate the local government and support the many services each of us has come to expect, such as schools, police, etc. As an example, if the same amount of money is to be raised after the revaluation as the previous year and each assessment doubles, the tax rate would merely be cut in half.

For more information, please call 860-665-8530.